Apple iPhone 5 review: Apple Maps [Epic Review]

Posted October 14, 2012 by Stuff Staff in Reviews

The Apple iPhone 5 Epic Review is a long-form look at one of the most anticipated mobiles ever produced. It’s sponsored by JadoPado.com – your one-stop online shop for all things gadget related. Want to pick up an iPhone 5 just like the one we’ve reviewed? Click here
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iPhone 5 Maps

Much has been made of the severance of Google Maps from iOS 6, and rightly so – navigation is now a fundamental feature of the smartphone experience. Google Maps got the heave-ho so that Apple could introduce its own map app, and for users the switch is something of a mixed blessing.

The headline feature is ‘Flyover’, which introduces interactive 3D city models. Coverage is currently limited to a handful of cities worldwide, and the practical applications of the tech are limited, but we challenge your jaw not to drop as you zoom in and spin your map around the circumference of London’s Gherkin. A gimmick? Sure, but one that we’ve fallen for wholeheartedly.

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On the other hand, Maps can also be used as a full-on sat-nav, with voice-augmented turn-by-turn navigation, ETA, live traffic updates and more. It’s decent, but a distance behind Android‘s Google Maps in terms of its search skills and knowledge of the vagaries of local dead ends and one-way systems.

UPDATE: Although we didn’t have significant problems during our own testing process, millions of people have since downloaded iOS 6 and it’s become increasingly clear that Apple Maps is significantly flawed. There is virtually no mapping data for the UAE, some other locations are, well, in the wrong place altogether. You know what they say, millions of heads are better than one.

In its current state Apple Maps is not a viable replacement for Google Maps. Hopefully Google’s offering will be reinstated as a free download from the App Store in the near future; until then, Apple has a pretty major problem on its hands.

Coming tomorrow: Apple iOS 6 Siri

Apple, Apple iPhone 5, Epic Review, iPhone 5

About the Author

Stuff Staff

Our crack-team of gadget-loving ninjas scour the interwebs for the hottest gadgets and the coolest kit around. They produce the pages of Stuff Middle East by day, but don internet-friendly masks by night, stealthily hunting the latest gadget news and tech trends.